Mixed bags on the cardsWayne Dubois | First Published: May 2007

There are only a couple of months when you can pretty much target any species in Blowering Dam and have a good chance of catching a nice mixed bag – and one of these months is May.

The water is still warm enough to keep the odd golden perch active. Even though this species would be the hardest to catch at the moment, they are still worth targeting.

Yabbies and worms from the bank have been working a treat and trolling has accounted for a few as well. Lures worth trolling include rattlers, preferably 70mm versions or bigger to get you down around 5m to 7m, and medium to small crankbaits like Merlins, Stuckeys and any diving yabby-style lures.

Murray cod can be targeted with grubs from the bank or by trolling big to extra-big deep-divers like 40’ ACs, the biggest StumpJumpers and Hammerheads. Zigzag your trolling pattern over the old river bed up the top of the dam but if you can’t get up there, there are still plenty of rocky drop-offs to troll around the wall area.

Trout should begin to be caught in good numbers this month as the water starts to cool more to their liking. PowerBait or worms from the bank should see you get a few fish but try to stick to shallower water, particularly late and early in the day.

Casting from the bank with Tassies, Lofty's, Celtas, Rooster Tails, Rapala minnows or plastics should also get you trout.

Fly fishing from the bank is also great at this time with the usual lake fly patterns working just as well as on any other trout lake. Patterns such as Woolly Worms, Woolly Buggers, Mrs Simpson, Tom Jones, Craig’s Night-time, Hamill's Killer and brown, black or olive Nymphs all work well.

With the nymphs I prefer to tie on one of the bigger flies such as a Mrs Simpson and have the nymph trailing off a dropper.

Trolling for trout can also be very rewarding and the usual winged lures work well but I have had better luck over the past couple of seasons with gold and pink/yellow/white rattlers and paddle tail plastics.

Redfin can also be targeted this month, mainly in water around 13m. They can be caught on ice jigs, plastics or with bait such as worms, grubs or small yabbies. Reddies can still be caught off the bank with bait but you will have to find some deep water because this is where the fish spend most of their time during the cooler months.

RIVERS, STREAMS

The rivers should be in low flow by now and there should be great fishing for everyone. But with only weeks left in the trout season, a trip to the Tumut River just might be worth your while.

The Tumut River can be fished with ease with bait, lure or fly and is a productive watercourse during low flow. Casting upstream with CD-3 Rapalas, Rooster Tails or Celtas is great fun and very rewarding.

PowerBait, worms or mudeyes on ultra-light gear can also be very effective.

Fly fishing the faster runs with Glo-Bugs and nymphs will get you a few, as will fishing the deeper holes with larger streamer patterns and this technique might see you hook up on one of the resident trophy trout.

Casting spinnerbaits, Chatterbaits, rattlers and plastics into the timber on the Murrumbidgee River is good fun during the cooler months and the low flows can trigger awesome fishing.

At night time around the full moon is arguably the best time to target the natives but fishing around dusk or dawn is fine if you can’t get out for a night session. Grubs or worms will also get you amongst them but you will have to contend with Mr Carp in doing so.

Persistence finally pays off when after more than 20 casts into this timbered bay the author hooked up solid to this nice yella which hit a green and white spinner bait.

Under the other pic something like the reward for those that persist or I strongly recommend using stinger hooks on spinner baits for a much better hook up rate as you can see by this tail pecking yella which eventually got pinned by the stinger hook.